Trial by Fire
by autumnsbliss
Summary: [Rollins x Carisi] A case regarding the exploitation of young immigrant women puts Carisi and Rollins undercover as a married couple seeking an underground adoption.
1. Prologue

Nervous fingers twisted the cold golden band around her finger as her gaze shifted down to the worn wood of the table beneath her. A quaint little coffee shop tucked away on an easy to miss side street — away from the general hustle and bustle of the city — seemed almost too open for a conversation like this. When they had set up the meeting she'd expected it to be somewhere tightly secure…locked down…possibly in the depths of an abandon warehouse or secluded basement.

The coffee shop was definitely a more comfortable feel than any of that anyway. It must have been a more welcoming atmosphere for expectant parents.

Rollins finally swallowed hard, her eyes shifting up to look at the man sitting across from her. His tattooed fingers rested gently against the table as he waited for her to speak, but his eyes were soft...encouraging even.

"I'm sorry," she finally said. She shook her head and let out a rehearsed shaky breath. Warm, gentle fingers found her hand, and Carisi gave it a reassuring squeeze when she glanced over to him before continuing. "This isn't easy for us."

The stranger across from them nodded.

"The doctor told us we might never be able to conceive again," Carisi continued for her, his grip on her hand tightening just slightly. "And between childcare for our daughter and paying off our mortgage...we just don't have the money for-"

"Traditional adoption?" The man finished the sentence for him, his voice laced with a thick Brazilian accent. He studied them with an almost scrutinizing gaze for a few long seconds before his eyes softened again. "I can ask where you got my contact information?"

Carisi fished around in his pocket for a moment before taking out his phone and pulling up a picture. The man squinted as he leaned closer to get a better look.

"We're friends of Norv and Alana Hill. You adopted this little boy out to them last year?"

"Ah…sí…" he nodded fondly. A smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "Sweet couple. They make great parents, no?"

"The best," Carisi agreed.

The unfamiliar man reached his hand across the table to offer it to Rollins. Without a second thought, she placed her own down, allowing him to cover it with a gentle grip. She could feel the prick of the corner of a business card press against his palm when he pulled her hand into a firm grasp, and he smiled warmly when she shifted her eyes up to meet his.

"Thank you for contacting me," he told her with a clear tone of sincerity. His eyes shifted between her and Carisi. "Let me see what I can do. You call this number," he nodded down at the hand where he had just placed the card, "if you don't hear from me by next week, okay?"

Tears pricked visibly at the corners of Carisi's eyes, and he nodded firmly before reaching over to offer the stranger a friendly clasp on the shoulder. He thanked him in a seemingly sincere whisper, and as the man stood up to leave, the detectives watched as he made his way swiftly through the worn front door and got into the indistinct car parked along the sidewalk.

Once he drove away they both straightened their posture, every bit of humility and desperation quickly vanishing without a trace as they finally allowed themselves to break character.

"Looks like we've got him," Carisi commented.

Rollins nodded.

"Gotta admit…I didn't expect you to bust out the waterworks."

They both stood up once they were sure no suspicion would rise, and they shared a soft laugh at the teasing words. They left the cafe through the same door that their target had just a few minutes earlier and made their way to the slightly unfamiliar SUV that would be serving as their undercover vehicle, complete with the cliche decals of a stick figure family consisting of three and a dog.

"Desperate times," Carisi responded to the earlier comment with a shrug. A smile played briefly on his lips, but disappeared as he got into the driver's seat of the car. "You know what's crazy? Talkin' to him…he thinks he's doing the right thing."

"The right thing by who, exactly?" Rollins offered him a challenging glance as she got in on the passenger's side. "The immigrant women he's exploiting or the desperate parents he's dragging into all this?" She glanced at Carisi when he nodded in silent agreement. "It's human trafficking. No other way to put it."

Carisi nodded again, and as he started the car, he looked over to her with almost stoic determination. "Which is why we're gonna put an end to it."


	2. Domestic Bliss

_A Few Weeks Earlier…_

 _It had been a particularly quiet day at the precinct beforehand. It was one of those days that had been spent catching up on paperwork relating to some open and shut cases that had fallen to the wayside when things got hectic and sprinkled with irrelevant small talk. It was the type of day when Amaro's sarcastic quips were sorely missed._

 _Carisi was the one to finally break the lingering silence shortly after squinting at the screen of his laptop to take a closer look._

 _"Fin, come here. You gotta check this out."_

 _What ever the two were watching intently with expressions that could only be equated to young children on Christmas morning, Rollins had a strong feeling that it had nothing to do with work. She couldn't contain the small smile that touched her lips and the playful eye roll that was almost subconscious when she stood from her desk to get another cup of coffee and caught a glimpse over her shoulder. The trailer for some new, high-tech looking first-person shooter video game was the last thing she would think would completely enrapture two grown men, but with these two...it was hardly a surprise._

 _"Don't work yourself too hard, guys," she teased, although it seemed to fall on deaf ears._

 _Before she could round the corner to where the stale pot of coffee had been sitting on the machine's burner since she'd arrived at the precinct, something in her peripheral vision caught her attention. It was only when she turned around that she noticed someone stumble through the doorway, chest heaving with strangled breaths and eyes darting around frantically._

 _It was a young girl — her long, dark hair tangled and damp with sweat and her body so frail it looked as if she could tumble over her own feet at any second. Her clothing was indistinct, but there was a clean rip on one of the knees of her jeans. It didn't look like it was the type for fashion, but instead the result of a hard fall._

 _"Please…"_

 _The breath in her lungs ran short, but the short word didn't fail to grab the attention of the three detectives in the room. Olivia seemed to have heard the commotion from her office as well, because she emerged from the heavy glass door, a familiar look of concern and curiosity painting her features._

 _Having been the closest to her, Rollins was the first to reach her side. The young girl leaned over — in what no one was sure was exhaustion or relief — and Rollins placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as she tried to catch her breath._

 _"Hey…hey…" her voice was quiet and gentle as she attempted to comfort the woman who was clearly in distress. "You're okay. You're safe here."_

 _The woman shook her head, and when she peeked up at the detective through thick eyelashes, Rollins could see that her eyes were brimming with tears._

 _"No. Not okay...I got away. But my sister…she's…"_

 _By the time she could manage just the few strangled words, Olivia was on the other side of her, hunched over just slightly to be at eye level. The woman shifted her gaze — full of anguish, fear, and desperation — between the two detectives on either side of her._

 _"She's only sixteen," she managed. "You don't understand what they'll do to her."_

* * *

On the off chance that they were being trailed after their meeting with who was only known to them so far as "Ares", Olivia advised both Rollins and Carisi to stay away from the precinct for at least twenty-four hours. The last thing that any of them needed after all of the effort that had gone into putting them under such deep cover was for a frivolous error to expose them before they could even begin.

So Rollins stayed with Frannie in their temporary house where she had been tirelessly searching the phone number given to them while Carisi waited outside of Jesse's school in order to bring her over to Olivia's where she would be staying with Noah and Lucy. He hoped he didn't look too suspicious as he made sure to glance over his shoulder every few minutes to ensure that he wasn't being followed. Rollins told him earlier that he was being paranoid. He preferred vigilant. Prepared.

The school bell rang precisely on the hour, and a swarm of children being escorted by their respective teachers overflowed through the doors as if they had been anxiously waiting from them to finally open. One familiar face pushed her way through the crowd, her eyes lighting up as she hiked her pink backpack over her shoulders and began to run.

 _"Uncle Sonny!"_ Jesse's voice was high-pitched and breathless when she jumped into the familiar man's arms. She squeezed her arms tightly around his neck and he kissed her forehead affectionately before placing her feet back on the ground. "Uncle Sonny, guess what?"

She hadn't even given him a chance to greet her in response before she launched into a full blown story about what had taken place in Mrs. Reed's kindergarten class that day. Carisi listened intently — or as intently as he could while she jumped from topic to topic — as they made their way back to the car and she clambered into the backseat.

"And guess what else?" Jesse asked.

Carisi only had to glance back at her without a word for her to remember to buckle her seatbelt.

"What else?" He inquired.

"Mrs. Reed said we're having a career day soon," she told him. "Will mommy come?"

Admittedly, he used pulling out of the spot he was parallel parked in to stall on answering her question. It was such a simple and seemingly doable request — especially in the eyes of the little girl who couldn't even begin to comprehend the nature of their latest case. It was risky, however, to be boldly discussing their involvement with the law in front of a crowd including teachers and parents when they were attempting to lay low.

"Oh…I don't know, Jess," he responded honestly. When the glanced in the rearview mirror he caught a glimpse of her expression fall just slightly. "She'll try her best to be there."

"Oh…"

There was a short silence in the confines of the car, punctuated only by the sounds of car horns and the occasional screech of bus brakes from outside.

"You know how important your mom's job is, right?" He asked, looking at her through the rearview mirror once again when he pulled up to a red light. Jesse nodded enthusiastically in response. "Everything she does is to keep you safe."

'I know," Jesse assured him, the chipper smile returning to her face. "Uncle Sonny?"

"Yeah?"

"Today I got to touch a real live caterpillar."

* * *

"The kids and Lucy are safe and sound at the movies and Liv'll be home around dinner time," Carisi announced to his partner as he came in through the front door of the still mildly unfamiliar house and locked it behind him. "She said she's keeping her phone next to her for whenever you and Jesse want to FaceTime."

"Thanks again for picking her up," Rollins offered up a small smile when she picked her head up from where she had been staring intently down at her laptop. "I thought I had a lead but…"

"Nothing?"

Rollins finally closed her laptop and stood up from her seat at the kitchen table.

"It's either a burner or one of those throw-away phone number apps. These guys are thorough," she told him. "So all we have so far is an alias and a phone number that leads to nowhere."

"We've still got the upper hand in that these guys trust us. No matter how thorough they are," he reminded her. "Once we agree to go through with the adoption we'll have to transfer the money to _someone_...and I'm not sure 'Ares' is gonna do the trick."

"Cash?"

"I doubt it. With the amount of money they should be bringing in it wouldn't be reasonable to have all that cash just layin' around."

As they bounced ideas off of one another, Rollins couldn't help but get the feeling that there was something they were missing. She figured he was right. With the type of big money transfers they must have been getting, it wasn't logical that the transactions would be exclusively cash. Which meant that there were people who must have had a legal name to put to the alias.

The thought struck her suddenly, and she grasped her partner's shoulder to bring his attention back to her.

"Norv Hill. He made the transaction. He's gotta have some information on the guy."

"The guy we have in custody?" Carisi asked. "Liv said he won't talk."

"What about his wife?"

"We kinda turned her whole life upside down with this. You really think she'd wanna help us?"

The two of them shared a knowing look, and Rollins couldn't help but let a small smile — the kind of smile that was always brought on by the rejuvenating feeling of having a lead — tug at the corners of her lips.

"Won't know until we try."

* * *

 _A/N: I wanna thank you all for checking this out and hopefully sticking with me! The outline I have this at right now has it being 12 chapters + the prologue and an epilogue (so 14 if we're counting those as chapters). I want to try updating once a week (at least) but classes are starting for me again tomorrow so unfortunately I can't make any promises. I'll definitely try my best to stick to that though! I've also sort of got a rough idea about a potential "sequel" (for lack of a better term) once this is finished but I want to see how you all like this one before making any plans on that...so feedback is greatly appreciated!_


	3. Unlikely Alliance

_A Few Weeks Earlier…_

 _Olivia and Rollins stood at the two-way mirror, watching as Carisi and Fin sat across the table from the only lead that they had in their otherwise seemingly hopeless case._

 _The woman who had stumbled into the precinct only a few days prior had identified herself as Estela Mendoza, a twenty-two-year-old from Juarez. When she found out that she was pregnant, she and her mother pooled every penny that they had together in order for her and her sister to move to America and give her child the life she had always wanted for herself. They thought that they would all be able to live the American dream._

 _Unfortunately, from what she had told Olivia, she had been living more of a nightmare since she'd arrived than anything else. Rollins skimmed through the file containing her statement, reading:_

 _ **"A day after I got here I met this man who told me his name was Hermes. It was just me and my sister…and I had no money for food or rent. He told me he worked for an adoption agency and he would take care of us and that once I had the baby, we would get some of the money to get us onto our feet after the move.**_

 _ **It was all working out for a while. I had the baby and he got adopted by a rich man named Norval Hill and his girlfriend. Hermes let us stay for a while afterwards and help with the other girls for…I guess you could call it an allowance… until we felt comfortable enough money wise to go back out on our own.**_

 _ **A week before my sister and I were set to move out Hermes moved to another location. He told us they were 'growing the agency' and starting up in different parts of the city, so we would have someone new in charge until we left.**_

 _ **That was when Ares came in. And Ares is bad. He's a bad man. He's not like Hermes. He never let us leave. He was going to force me to get pregnant again. That is where he was taking me when I escaped. To get me pregnant again so there could be another adoption. I'd seen him do it to other girls before. I needed to get away, but I'm afraid of what he is going to do to my sister once he realizes I'm gone."**_

 _She closed the file, biting her tongue to contain her disgust as she looked in on the interrogation. Norv was a good looking, well dressed man, with the only indication of his age being the greying around his temples. He held his head in his hands as Fin spoke to him, his eyebrows knitted tightly together in distress as he responded._

 _"I told you…I didn't know!" He repeated for at least the third time since he had entered the small room. "All of the papers…the credentials…they all looked legit. He said it was an alternative adoption. I didn't know it was…"_

 _Norv swallowed hard when his words trailed off and Fin's frustration seemed to boil over. He tilted his head back in frustration before bringing his hand down on the table in front of him with a startling bang._

 _"Just cut the bullshit, man!" He finally shouted. "You bought a for-profit kid on the black market…and you knew damn well it was shady which is why you made sure your wife's name wasn't on any of the paperwork."_

 _"Her name wasn't on the paperwork because we weren't married yet. She was going to legally adopt Ezra in a few months."_

 _"Just give us the guy's name, Norv!" Fin paused before continuing on in a more settled tone. "Unless you think we should call your wife down and ask her."_

 _Norv's posture quickly straightened up at the mention of his wife._

 _"Don't bring her into this. She had nothing to do with it."_

 _"Then start talking!"_

 _The well-dressed man's expression became steely, and he crossed his arms defiantly in front of him._

 _"I think I should call my lawyer," he said simply. "I know my rights."_

 _At the sound of the magic words, Olivia knocked against the glass with a huff to call her two detectives back out. It was clear that Fin was still heated when he and Carisi exited the heavy door and reconvened back with the women in the hallway. They cast a look back into the interrogation room through the two-way mirror this time where Norv had slumped back over, head in his hands as he mumbled to himself._

 _"If the bastard was as innocent as he's saying he is he'd cooperate," Fin said, his voice dripping with disdain._

 _"I don't believe him either…but our hands are tied for right now," Olivia responded. "It's his legal right to-"_

 _"I know the law, Lieutenant," he reminded her._

 _Olivia ran a hand through her short locks of dark hair._

 _"So we wait."_

 _"Great," Carisi's word was punctuated with a bitter huff. "So we just sit here waiting while there's hundreds of young girls being trafficked across all five boroughs."_

 _"Not much else we can do for now," Olivia reminded him. "You and Rollins go read through Estela's report again. Thoroughly. See if there's anything we missed. I'll wait here for the lawyer and see if we can work something out."_

* * *

Rollins woke up the morning of her and Carisi's second day undercover without having gotten much rest. She wasn't sure if it was due to Jesse's absence or the simple unfamiliarity of the house surrounding her, but something had kept her up nearly all night.

Ever since Estela Mendoza had come stumbling into the precinct the case had been weighing heavily not only on Rollins, but on the entire squad. It had been some time since they had been tasked with a case this widespread...with this many current and potential victims...and the severity of it all had put everyone on edge. In a way, Rollins felt almost grateful to be undercover with her partner in this fashion. In a sense, it allowed her to distance herself. It allowed her to submerge herself into being Amanda Denton — the wife and music teacher — when she was away from the precinct as opposed to Detective Amanda Rollins.

None of it was real, but for once she could leave the horrors of the job behind her when she went home and pretend that it was.

The smell of fresh brewed coffee was what finally encouraged her to shift from under the covers and make her way into the kitchen where her partner was already fully dressed for the work day and had opened the blinds to allow the sun to glare almost harshly in through the windows. She squinted against the morning light, her groan of dissatisfaction seeming to catch Carisi's attention.

"Mornin' sunshine," he greeted. He grabbed a full mug of coffee from the counter and handed it to her as she passed him. "Looks like you need it."

It took her a moment to process the small domestic gesture, and she raised an eyebrow playfully at him as she took the mug from his hand.

"Gonna bring me breakfast in bed tomorrow too?" she teased. "Don't go gettin' soft on me, Carisi."

He flashed a smile in response.

"Just playing the part."

"And maybe enjoying it a little too much," she responded with a chuckle as she sat down across the table from him. Taking a long sip of her coffee, she savored the familiarly bitter taste on her tongue for a moment before speaking again. "So what's the game plan for today? Catch up with Liv to see if there's anything we missed? Ask her about questioning the wife?"

"Well," he paused, "I figured we'd question the wife first and let Liv know after the fact." He couldn't help but laugh when he saw his partner blink in surprise in response, and he echoed her words from earlier in a playfully teasing tone. "Don't go gettin' soft on me, Rollins."

"Trust me, I'm not opposed to it. It's just that out of the two of us you're usually not the one advocating for working behind the Lieutenant's back."

"I feel like this is the type of case that calls for the 'do first, ask questions later' approach," he told her. His eyes wandered away from hers briefly as if he was deep in thought. "I mean…hell…I don't even know how I feel about people breeding dogs. These guys are breeding human beings."

"In their minds it's no different. These girls are just about equal to animals to these guys. Only difference is they can make a hell of a lot more money off a baby than a poodle."

A somber silence hung between them for a few seconds.

"You really think the wife's gonna be willing to help us out?" Rollins finally asked.

"No. But it's worth a shot."

Rollins let out a short laugh. Keeping her nearly empty coffee cradled in her right hand, she got up to make her way to the pot for a refill. She stopped behind him and gave his shoulder a playful squeeze.

"Only been married to me for twenty-four hours and your optimism's already seen better days," she teased.

He chuckled and turned his head to look back at her. When their eyes met, they shared a small, knowing smile.

"You must be a bad influence," he responded.

"Really? That's what tipped you off?" she laughed again, giving his shoulder a final squeeze before finally turning around to refill her coffee. "If you think that's the worst of it…you ain't seen nothin' yet."

* * *

Staten Island was nothing like Manhattan.

Even though she was fully aware of the fact, Rollins had a feeling she would never get used to the feeling of being somewhere strange and foreign each she happened to pass into the borough. Especially as crowded streets and strip malls shifted into sprawling green lawns and million dollar homes.

"Back to your old stomping ground," she observed.

Carisi was behind the wheel of their SUV as it cruised down the empty road, and he shifted his eyes briefly from the pavement ahead of them to look at his partner with an amused smile.

"I wouldn't really call _this_ my old stomping ground," he told her with a nonchalant shrug. "We didn't all grow up in the lap of luxury like these people here."

He was right. These people were living in the lap of luxury. Which made it even more perplexing to Rollins that Norv and Alana Hill would need to go forth with a discounted black market deal in regards to their child when they would have checked all the theoretical boxes to allow them to go through with a legitimate adoption. Something about the situation wasn't adding up.

There was no time to speculate on the thought before they pulled into the long driveway leading up to a house that must have been worth at least ten times and NYPD detective's annual salary. Rollins and Carisi both stepped out of the SUV and made their way up to the ornate door, and when Carisi rang the doorbell, the elegant chimes could be heard signaling to Alana Hill from inside.

It only took a minute for the door to open, and the detectives were greeted by a familiar brunette with a baby on her hip. Her expression immediately soured when they all came face-to-face, and she instinctively pulled her son closer to her side.

"Haven't you people done enough damage already?" She asked without offering any semblance of a formal greeting. "My husband's in custody. My son might get taken away. I've been busting my ass to try and register as a foster parent incase things come down to the worst case scenario. What else could you possibly want?"

Rollins sighed almost apologetically in response.

"Mrs. Hill…we're just trying to get to the bottom of things. That's all," she said. "If your husband would just cooperate-"

"He is cooperating," she insisted. The baby whined in response to the tension and she began to bounce him gently in response. "I know my husband. He's telling the truth. He's a good man, and he would have never agreed to the adoption if he knew what those guys were doing."

"Then just help us understand-"

"What is there to understand?" Alana snapped before Carisi could get a word in edgewise. "Look…maybe working with the things you do screws with your minds, but not everyone in this city is some sick freak with some sort of secret motive. The only thing Norv is guilty of is not doing enough research before signing those papers."

While they hadn't expected to come out of their short meeting with Alana Hill believing in Norv's innocence, both Rollins and Carisi could feel their judgement begin to shift. Alana was either completely in the dark about the whole thing, an award worthy actress, or her husband's transgressions really did all boil down to ignorance. And while it was possible that Alana was simply some sort of manipulative mastermind, the detectives were both having a difficult time believing that.

There was something about the way she looked at them — not with anger regarding what was happening to her husband, but with a look that could only be read as a plea to listen — that let them know she wholeheartedly believed what she was saying. Whether her husband had pulled the wool over her eyes as well remained to be seen, but from what they could pick up from her, Alana Hill was innocent in the matter.

"I know this might be a lot to ask…especially considering your husband's circumstances right now," Rollins prefaced before her proposal, "but any information you can give us on these guys would be helpful to our investigation. And if what you're saying is true, Detective Carisi and I will do what we can to make sure your husband doesn't serve any time."

A few tears ran down Alana's cheeks, and she quickly reached up to wipe them away with her free hand. Her posture was still cold, and her expression didn't seem to soften.

" _Now_ you want to help?" She asked rhetorically. "None of this would even be happening at all if it wasn't for you."

Something about the words sent a jolt through Rollins, and a sinking feeling began to settle over her. Maybe she was right. If Norv really was innocent in all of this, all they had effectively done was drag an innocent family down with the girls they were trying to save.

She wanted to plead her case, but the sudden realization stopped her from doing so. Instead, she simply offered a nod of understanding.

"Mrs. Hill," Carisi started, "this is part of the job. Your husband's name came up in the investigation. We had to-"

"Carisi," Rollins stopped him before he could finish, "forget it. We'll figure something out."

"Amanda-"

"Liv's probably wondering where we are," she stopped him short again.

He didn't agree with her giving up so easily. In fact, he had found himself willing to plant himself firmly in front of the door of the Hill's mansion until Alana agreed to give them something — anything — that could help them break up this glorified human trafficking ring at a quicker pace. Rollins was one of the biggest advocates for victims that he knew, and he was having difficulty understanding why she was so willing to take 'no' for an answer when there were possibly hundreds of victims at stake.

Despite all of that, he knew that it wasn't a fight worth having — especially not directly in front of Alana Hill — so he kept all of his questions and concerns to himself as they began to make their way back to the SUV.

They had expected to hear the front door of the mansion close behind them. The sound never came. What came instead was potentially the last thing they'd expected.

"Fabien Espenda."

Both detectives turned to face the source of the familiar voice. Alana's face had returned to its twisted expression of distress and regret as she ran her fingers through the hair of the toddler on her hip.

"That's all I know," she clarified. "I don't know who he is or what he does…I just know my husband made a check out to the name." She took a long pause, and when she finally spoke again, the crack in her voice could be heard even with the short distance between them. "Please don't let them put my husband in prison."

Carisi nodded in response. It was potentially going to be an uphill battle attempting to convince the headstrong Peter Stone to allow Norv to make a deal that would keep him from doing any time, but Alana was putting her trust in them. Trust that, to Rollins, was potentially unearned.

"We'll do what we can," Rollins promised with a nod of her own. "Thank you, Mrs. Hill."

This time the front door closed, allowing Alana and her son to disappear behind the heavy wood and ornate glass, and the detectives were uncharacteristically quiet as they got back into the SUV and started on their route back to Manhattan. Neither of them felt the need to speak, even when they would stop at a red light or when Rollins reacher over the center console to turn the radio on, and they instead rode in silence back to the precinct, choosing not to discuss the case at hand any further until they arrived.

* * *

 _A/N: Just wanted to briefly give a huge "thank you" to everyone who's read and left feedback thus far! It really does mean a lot! I've really been enjoying writing this so it's nice to know others are enjoying reading it as well._


	4. Temporary Relief

_A/N: Sorry for the delay! This week's been super busy!_

* * *

As much as she had been trying to mask her concern from Fin, who had been seemingly oblivious as he sat working at his desk, Olivia couldn't stop herself from pacing the floor as she checked her watch. It was an almost compulsive thought, forcing her to glance down at the ticking hands around her wrist practically every minute on the minute. She typically prided herself on having a relatively level head, but — knowing the potential risks that came along with doing undercover work — on this day in particular she was finding her mind running, instead, through the worst-case scenarios.

Fin finally seemed to notice the tension in the room, and he cocked an eyebrow curiously as he watched his boss peek out to the elevators with a barely audible sigh.

"Everything alright, Lieutenant?" He asked.

"Have you heard from Rollins _or_ Carisi?" Instead of answering, she responded with a question of her own. "They were supposed to be here over an hour ago and I can't get in touch with either of them."

As if on cue, the elevator pinged a few feet away from her and the doors opened to reveal the two previously missing detectives. When Olivia let out a long breath, she couldn't be sure if it was equivalent to a huff of frustration or a sigh of relief. Or a combination of the two.

"Nice of you two to finally show up," she greeted them harshly.

Her dissatisfaction wasn't lost on anyone in the room.

"Sorry, Lieu. We got a little caught up. But we went to go talk to Norv Hill's wife and we got a name to work with."

"Interesting considering I don't remember sending either of you to Staten Island this morning," she responded.

Rollins opened her mouth to respond, but Carisi beat her to it.

"It was my idea," he assured their boss to ensure that his partner — who had more than enough of a history with their boss regarding mistrust already — wasn't going to take any heat. "And it won't happen again, but-"

" _But_ pull another no-show and you're off the case," Olivia stated firmly. Her eyes flickered over from Carisi to Rollins before she continued. "Both of you. I don't care how many resources have been sunk into your UC work."

Rollins held her hands up in a silent surrender.

"Do you at least want what we got?" She asked.

"Yes…" Olivia shook her head and sighed when she turned her back to them. She took a deep breath to compose herself. The case was getting to her — to all of them — and she pinched the bridge of her nose in an attempt to bring herself back from the brink. Before they could discuss the case any further, however, she jumped to a new topic. An unexpected one, at that. "I went to dinner with Barba last week."

Rollins and Carisi exchanged a curious look at the sudden change in the topic at hand before bringing their attention back to their boss.

"Barba …as in Rafael Barba?" Rollins asked.

"Yeah…nice of him to come catch up with the rest of us while he was in town" Carisi added in with a sprinkle of bitterness.

"He couldn't stay long. He had to head back north to close on a house the next morning," Olivia responded. "But… the point is …we got to talking about the case and how everyone's been a little on edge. He invited us all up to his new place. Said it might help everyone decompress a little."

"Decompress?" Rollins had to ask. "Are you _sure_ we're talking about Rafael Barba?"

"Didn't think he knew the meaning of the word," Carisi tacked on with a coy smile.

"Getting out of the city's done a lot of good for him," Olivia chose to respond in a semi-serious manner to the teasing quips, despite a small, amused smile playing on her lips. "Anyway, I'm sure he's looking forward to catching up with you two if you're up for it. Fin said he'll stay behind and monitor the case."

"With all due respect to Fin," Rollins prefaced, "Carisi and I are the ones who are pretty deep into this. Wouldn't it make more sense for us to hang back?"

At the sound of the question, Fin swiveled around in his chair to face the group.

"With all due respect to _Barba_ , taking a long ass road trip upstate isn't exactly my idea of 'decompressing'. I'll take one for the team and stay here," he offered up a smile when he could tell by the look on his co-worker's face that she wasn't buying his 'take one for the team' excuse. "You and Carisi go. Have fun. This case has been taking a toll on the two of you more than any of us."

"Whatever you decide, let me know by Friday," Olivia said. "For now let's see where we can get with this new information."

* * *

Two overnight bags were stuffed in backseat of Carisi's car as it rolled effortlessly along the nearly deserted highway. According to the GPS there was still a little under two hours to go until they reached Barba's new home near the Adirondacks. As the tree-lines on the side of the road blurred past them, Rollins pulled open a bag of chips that they had picked up not too long ago at the last rest-stop they'd passed, nudging her partner to offer some up to him before grabbing a handful for herself.

"You sure you don't want me to drive the rest of the way?" She asked.

"I'm good, Rollins."

"I was kind of afraid you were gonna drive that schmuck in the Escalade off the road a few miles back there."

"How hard's it to stay in one lane? Shoulda known the guy was lookin' at his damn phone."

Rollins had to laugh before she popped a few chips into her mouth.

"Maybe almost crashing was some sorta bad karma for us talking about the case when we're supposed to be relaxing," she joked.

"I gotta admit," Carisi started, "I'm glad we're gonna get to catch up with Barba and all, but it's pretty impossible to actually _relax_ during a case like this. Especially when there's still so many loose ends. And, honestly..." he paused, "somethin's been bothering me."

"What's that?"

"Norv Hill. I know we told his wife we'd do what we can to help him cut a deal, but I still don't trust the guy."

Admittedly, Rollins was surprised to hear the confession. It had been a few days since they spoke to Alana Hill in Staten Island, and she had been under the impression that they were in agreement on Norv being oblivious to the inner workings of the operation.

"Carisi, come on. The only thing the guy's guilty of is being an idiot," she said simply, and paused to shrug her shoulders just slightly. "If being an idiot was a felony half the city would be locked up by now."

"That's the thing though. He's _not_ an idiot. He's a multimillionaire," Carisi reminded her. "If he's got all that money he's gotta be doing something right. You don't get that rich by accident."

"Tell that to every reality TV star and internet celebrity."

"Work with me here, Rollins," he sighed. "I'm not sayin' this is some sorta conspiracy. I'm just sayin' the guy knew what he was doing when he signed those papers, and I don't know how good I feel about letting someone off who knowingly bought a kid from a human trafficking ring. It shouldn't matter how 'good' of a parent he is now."

A short silence settled between them as Rollins to a moment before responding.

"Regardless...Liv's not gonna let us talk to him again," she told him. "She specifically said all that's left to do with Norv is help him and his lawyer work out a deal with Stone." Another silence hung in the confines of the car, and when she looked over to the driver's seat, Rollins could practically see the tension in his shoulders. "Sonny…I know it's easier said than done, but let's just... not think about the case right now, alright? We're both overthinking it."

Carisi visibly relaxed, particularly at the sound of the familiar nickname. It was casual…comfortable…and for a brief moment it almost allowed him to forget about the weight of their current case.

"You know…maybe you're right," he admitted. He flickered his eyes briefly off of the open road to find her looking at her phone as opposed to at him. "We'll take today to regroup. Clear our minds like Liv suggested."

"Speaking of, she's already there," Rollins flashed him the screen of her phone despite knowing he wasn't looking. "I'm gonna tell her we've still got a couple hours to go."

"Already? Musta got on the road early."

Rollins quickly tapped out a text message in response, and she held her open bag of chips out to Carisi when he reached over the center console.

"What's the deal with Barba coming all the way down to Manhattan just to have dinner with Liv anyway?" He grabbed a few of the chips he'd been offered when he continued. "You'd think he'd at least drop by the precinct if he was in town."

"What are you jealous?" She teased.

"Just seems weird is all." The silence that settled in the car was only punctuated by the sound of crunching potato chips. After a few seconds, a thought seemed to strike him, and he glanced over at his partner once again. "You don't think…"

He didn't need to finish for Rollins to figure out where the line of questioning was going. The laugh she let out was short and unable to be suppressed, especially when she caught a look at the expression on her partner's face.

"Liv and Barba?" She asked, an amused smile settling on her lips."Stranger things have happened."

"Have they?"

"Come on, Carisi. They're both single…looking to settle down soon. They're friends who've got a lot in common. Would you really be that surprised?" She didn't give him a chance to respond before she continued. "And besides, they don't work together anymore. No more conflict of interest."

To her, he didn't look convinced. She could admit that, despite knowing she wouldn't be _completely_ surprised if Olivia and their former ADA's friendship had blossomed into something more, she wasn't exactly expecting it. Sure there had been moments where she could have sworn they were flirting, but she knew Olivia was married to the job. The SVU Lieutenant had made that clear when she chose it over Tucker a couple of years prior.

"I can't picture it," Carisi admitted.

"I can. Think about it," she paused. "You saw how devastated Liv was when he left. Maybe there was something going on there but working in this field…in these situations…" she paused, watching the trees pass by on either side of the highway once again. "Losing a friend like Dodds on the job was hard enough. Now imagine losing someone you're… _with_? Maybe the idea of high-risk dating just wasn't worth it."

Carisi couldn't stop his thoughts from drifting back to that night in West Virginia. The night he had mustered up enough courage — or liquid courage — to make his move. He couldn't suppress the feeling that maybe she was no longer just talking about Olivia and Barba.

"Fear'll let you pass up something that coulda been worth it?" he brought himself to ask.

When she looked at him, her blue eyes full of sympathy, knowing that the topic of conversation had drifted far away from their boss and former ADA, she was grateful he wasn't looking back at her.

"You've gotta be a certain kinda selfless to be with someone when you know what happened to Dodds could easily happen to them too," She paused to take a cleansing breath. "You've got a big heart, Carisi. But some of us…" she paused again, gathering her thoughts when just the simplest slip tripped her up, "some people aren't that selfless."

Carisi let the words hang between them, taking a moment to let them sink in. Maybe she was telling the truth. Maybe it was fear that had kept her from letting go of her inhibitions that night. Maybe this was all just an elaborate and roundabout way to let him down easy…without having to say the words.

Or maybe she really was just talking about Barba and Olivia.

* * *

The place that Rafael Barba now called home was anything but expected when it came to the former ADA that they all knew back in Manhattan.

Barba had always been on the go. The hustle and bustle of the city had always seemed to be a perfect fit for someone so ambitious and career oriented. His new town, however, was practically Manhattan's antithesis.

It was quaint…quiet…and his new home was tucked away nearly in seclusion. When they pulled into the expansive driveway, both Rollins and Carisi were admittedly unsure of what to expect when it came to Barba. There was the lingering concern that he had left every aspect of who he once was behind when he left the city. They doubted that Olivia would be so willing to spend the weekend with him had that been the case, but there was always the possibility.

Shortly after getting reacquainted, however, it became clear that he was still the same snarky, silver tongued Barba that they had become so fond of over the years, still hiding the kindness of his heart behind the masquerade of sarcasm.

After spending some time in his new and still mostly barren home, Barba offered to treat the small group to a nice dinner in the center of one of the livelier parts of town. Admittedly, the bar and restaurant seemed to be much more of Rafael Barba's speed anyway.

There was a city vibe to the dark, almost smokey ambiance of the interior…enough to make it feel like old times. Before Peter Stone. Before Barba's life had been completely thrown off course and turned on its head. Before the core group they had come to know as family began to scatter.

"I still can't believe you're actually taking time off," Rollins commented with a short chuckle, nursing her third glass of wine as they sat around the mahogany table. " _You_ who could barely get dressed in the morning without a plan."

"Trust me I thought about getting right back into the field," Barba told her. "But none of the jobs I had my eye on up here seemed like the perfect fit."

"Well if you're ever considering coming back to Manhattan…" Rollins let the question hang unfinished, taking another swig of her red wine.

Barba looked mildly amused, and even he had to chuckle.

"Glad to hear everyone's adjusting well to working with ADA Stone."

Olivia couldn't help but smile at the comment.

"You know my squad can be a little…slow to warm."

"That and…you know…the fact that he tried to get you locked up," Carisi reminded the former ADA in response. "Just sayin'…we didn't really all start out on the right foot."

Ever the rational and logical thinker, Barba simply shrugged.

"He was just doing his job," he said matter-of-factly. "I figured you — of all people — would understand that, Carisi."

"I do. Doesn't mean we all wouldn't prefer to have you back though."

"I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for that one." Despite not saying anything about 'never', Barba's words were definitive. "There are plenty of opportunities to be had up here. Which reminds me…if you're ever considering really putting your law degree to good use…"

He left the statement open-ended, but the rest could easily be inferred. Carisi, admittedly, was a little surprised by the offer. It had been quite some time since he had even considered leaving law enforcement behind and becoming a practicing lawyer. But something about Barba's recommendation resonated with him for reasons unknown.

He loved his job at Manhattan SVU, but there was always going to be a part of him that wondered if transitioning into becoming a lawyer would offer something more.

"Trying to poach my squad right in front of me, Rafa?" Olivia teased.

"Only the ones who passed the bar," he offered up a smile in response before looking back to Carisi. "You know how much I hate to admit I was wrong about you, but you'd be a damn good lawyer."

"He's a damn good _detective_ ," Rollins reminded the former ADA.

She couldn't help but internally laugh at the irony of the situation. Sonny Carisi had gone from the one no one wanted to deal with — the one who she'd essentially pleaded with Olivia not to make her go out into the field with when he'd first arrived as part of the team — to the one whose skills were now highly coveted in multiple positions. It was a turnaround she'd never seen coming.

"I'll keep that all in mind, counselor. Thanks," was how he'd finally responded to the verbal push and pull.

That certainly wasn't the response Rollins had expected him to give, and she admittedly had trouble getting it out of her head as the four of them finished up their dinner and continued on to end off the night with a few drinks.

What did he mean by he'd keep it in mind? Was he really considering leaving SVU? Or leaving Manhattan? He hadn't made any indication of it since he'd interviewed for that position in Brooklyn, but she figured he didn't immediately relay every thought that crossed his mind to her. Perhaps he _wasn't_ thinking about it until Barba planted the seed.

So much for decompressing.

Hours passed without notice as they all continued to both catch up on recent life changes as well as reminisce about old times. In fact, it had gotten quite late by the time Olivia finally looked down at the watch around her wrist.

"I should really head back and get some sleep," she said. "This one," she nodded towards Barba, "said he's cooking breakfast in the morning and I really don't want to miss that sight."

"You'll see I'm a better cook than you give me credit for," Barba teased, and the two exchanged small smiles. "Among other things."

Rollins and Carisi exchanged a look of their own in response to the subtle flirtation that managed to seep into the seemingly platonic dinner they had all been having.

"You guys go ahead," Rollins finally broke the moderately awkward silence. "I think I'm gonna hang out for a while and check out what kinda nightlife upstate New York has to offer." She paused, but before anyone could respond she turned her gaze towards Carisi. "You up for a night out?"

Admittedly, he was somewhat surprised by the offer of inclusion. Not only was she offering, but she seemed to _want_ him to stay out with her.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he had assumed that "checking out the nightlife" was a subtle way of implying that she wanted — or _needed_ — a taste of independence while Jesse was under someone else's supervision. To hit the first rundown dive bar she could find and make a night of it without having to worry how many potential suitors were going to be put off by the fact that there was another man by her side.

Her idea of how to cap off the night meant for relaxation wasn't necessarily what he had expected, but it was a welcomed surprised nevertheless.

* * *

"Oh man. I haven't been to a real pool hall in God knows how long."

Rollins caught herself before she could stumble up the steps of Barba's porch as she spoke, fishing around in her coat pocket for the key Barba had left with the two of them.

"Yeah," Carisi responded, his tone playful and teasing. Despite consciously monitoring himself, his words still managed to slur together just slightly when he spoke. "By the way you were playin' we could all tell."

His partner elbowed him lightly in the arm in response to the lighthearted verbal jab, but the elbow was quickly replaced by her palm when she reached out to steady herself against him.

By the time they'd gotten around to heading back to the house, neither of them had any idea how late it had actually gotten. The potent smell of hard alcohol and second-hand cigarette hung off of them to the point that they had both become accustom to it, and when she finally clutched the small key in her palm, Rollins pushed it into its place.

It took some rattling and fumbling fingers before the lock gave way but it eventually did, and the front door swung open with a pronounced creak.

"Shhh."

It had barely registered to either of them who made the noise to encourage the inanimate object to quiet down, but it hardly mattered. They were both well aware of the fact that there was a good chance neither of them would remember any of this in the morning.

Rollins locked the door behind them after shutting it much more gracefully than she had been able to open it, peering down the dark and quiet hallway to look for any signs of activity. When it became obvious that all of the lights were off, she concluded that both Olivia and Barba were probably already asleep. Which may or may not have been expected depending on how late she and Carisi had actually ended up staying out.

The two nearly empty rooms they had claimed earlier didn't take long to reach, and they stopped at their respective doors just briefly.

"Thanks for hanging out tonight," Rollins whispered with a smile. "My pool playing might be rusty but I still had fun."

Carisi chuckled in response.

"Yeah. Me too."

"See you in the morning then."

"Night, Amanda."

Her hand touched the doorknob leading into the small mostly barren room, but it lingered there for a moment as opposed to turning it open.

"Carisi?"

"Yeah?"

She turned around to face him again.

"I don't know about you, but I'm not really all that tired," she told him. "You wanna come see what kinda crap's on TV this late at night?"

He wasn't entirely sure _how_ she wasn't tired, or at least not ready to call it a night. Were the shots of tequila not making her head spin as much as they had his? Regardless, he came to realize a part of him was powerless to reject the opportunity for them to spend more time together. Why that was was something he figured could use more addressing at a later point.

So instead of politely declining and calling it in for the night, he sat in her guest bed with her as she mindless flipped through channels, most of which had already switched over to showing infomercials for the remainder of the night or reruns of obscure older movies. And despite the claims that they weren't at all tired, they both slipped into a dreamless sleep before she could ever settle on something.


End file.
